


To Live and Die by the Sword

by acelevi



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Especially space warfare, Examples of why children should not be used in warfare, Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, More of baby Goku than adult Goku, Space Pirates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-03 04:05:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5275880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acelevi/pseuds/acelevi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vegeta, Nappa, Raditz, and Naeb are believed to be the only Saiyans left after the destruction of their planet. Subject to ridicule from "comrades" and superiors, Vegeta learns to let everything roll off his back as if it doesn't get under his skin and fuel his rage even more. On the outside, it seems like nothing bothers him, nothing can break his demeanor, but his fellow Saiyans know him better than that.</p><p>We all know the classic story of Goku and how he grew up, but what about the brother he never had and the prince he never expected to befriend?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prelude

The wails of a new baby filled the otherwise silent nursery. The nurses placed the swaddled newborn into her incubator, brushing her dark bangs from her forehead.  
“Have you come up with a name for her?” she asked, turning to the new parents. The mother sadly bit her lip as the father shook his head. Naming the child would mean they had really become attached to her, something they couldn’t afford to do with their given circumstances.

“We cannot keep her, so we’ve decided not to name her. Her new… caretaker… can name her when she arrives to him.”

Up in his castle, King Vegeta nervously paced the room as his son and Counselor Nappa looked on. Lord Frieza demanded that the prince be handed over to him reasons he refused to specify. Nappa believed it was because of the boy’s already powerful strength. At just five years old, Prince Vegeta was already well on his way to becoming powerful than most full grown Saiyans. He fully believed that if anyone would reach the legendary Super Saiyan status they all strived for so fiercely, it was the young prince. The younger Vegeta was growing increasingly board and sighed softly, resting his chin in his hand as he glanced back and forth from the window to his father. He was seemingly unaware of the increasing tension held in his father’s brow; his mind was far off, thinking of the new techniques he’d been taught by Commander Bardock. He’d be sure to test them out on Bardock’s son, Radtiz, later when they sparred. A sudden intrusion disturbed the eerie silence of the room.

“She has birthed us a daughter, your majesty. I’m not sure how well it will work, she looks nothing like Kakarot.”  
The young prince’s ears perked up as he caught the familiar name. ‘Kakarot?’ he thought to himself, his attention turning to the disheveled soldier he’d met a few time before. ‘I wonder if he means Raditz’s new brother. But that can’t be possible, he was sent off planet days ago.’  
The ramblings of the solider were cut short as a blast fired through his chest, a short sputtering of blood flying from his mouth before he collapsed in a lifeless heap on the ground. A low and dark chuckle sounded from the doorway as Zarbon, one of Lord Frieza’s top ranking generals, stepped into the room.  
“Sorry to cut the conversation short, but I believe you have something Lord Frieza wants. You know how impatient he gets, best to not keep him waiting any longer.”

In the nursery, the mother and nurse stood paralyzed in fear as Dodoria entered the room, a sinister smirk on his lips. “Now you knew this was coming, I’m not quite sure why you still look surprised, but no matter. Just hand over the brat and we’ll be finished with the relatively easily.”

Glancing back and forth between the baby and the door, the mother quickly darted forward, attempting to grab the baby, although she was stopped by a blast from Dodoria, instantly vaporizing her. He rolled his eyes and stepped forward, seizing the child before turning to the nurse. “My orders were leave no witnesses. Nothing personal,” he paused, sending the woman to the same fate as the baby’s mother, “but I’m very efficient in my job.”

The baby was placed under Nappa’s watch after the three of them had been brought onto the ship. Vegeta refused to have any part of taking care of her, but begrudgingly agreed to train with her. Raditz joined them on the ship as well, continuing his daily spars with Vegeta. The baby was named by Raditz, of all people. He'd named her Naeb, a name he had chosen for Kakarot, had he been born a girl. 

The news of Planet Vegeta's destruction came suddenly. Vegeta did as he always did and refused to show any sign of emotion to anyone outright, but Nappa and Raditz noticed him training harder and fighting more often. Naeb was only three years old and didn't understand the concept of losing her home world, but she was able to pick up on Raditz's mood shift after it had happened and spent more time trying to make him smile or laugh. Years passed before she finally allowed it to bother her. After a particularly rough training session with Vegeta, she found herself finding comfort from Raditz. He told her stories of their planet, stories he'd been told by Nappa or his parents. He told her of his brother who he still had no information on. He told her of his father and his bravery serving the king, Vegeta's father. Late that night in her own room, she'd found herself angrily glaring at the ceiling. It wasn't fair. The three of them had been taken from their homes, from their families, and now they never had a chance to go back to them. Never had a chance to return to their old lives. They were stuck her now forever, trapped under Frieza's thumb. 

At the age of 10, Naeb woke one morning to find Vegeta and Raditz gone. Nappa explained that they had gone to a far off planet to train Raditz harder to work through his tail sensitivity. To say she was pissed was an understatement; how dare they abandon her like this? Did she mean nothing to those two brainless idiots? She had training to do to, she should have been able to go along as well. Her tail thrashed violently behind her as she fumed, smacking a few people in the leg on accident as she passed them in the hall. Nappa found amusement in her anger. She was becoming more and more like Vegeta than she even realized. When they returned, the youngest Saiyan made sure they both caught an earful, earning a round of laughter from Nappa and a very intense sparring session with Vegeta as Raditz reluctantly decided to stay out of it. That night, Nappa made sure all three younger soldiers were in bed earlier than normal to make sure all tension from the day was dissolved. 


	2. Just The Way Things Go

Vegeta swore to himself that he would never forgive his father for handing him over so easily. He still respected the hell out of the king, but he was also extremely pissed at him. Raditz, more or less, didn't give a damn. He saw it as a chance for adventure, something he longed for so achingly after Kakarot's birth. Vegeta was a good sparring partner, but he was never up for the kind of excitement and adventure Raditz was. Now he had no choice. Raditz loved the idea of traveling to far off planets, most that he'd never even heard of before. He had high hopes of one day finding Kakarot and reuniting with his last remaining family member.

Adjusting to the changes were hard. For Naeb, of course, it was easy. Being only a newborn, she had nothing to base off of; this was home for her. For everyone else though, it was not as simple. Nappa never commenting on anything, refusing to let the two young children know how badly he had been thrown off by being dragged into this as well. Vegeta learned quickly to keep his mouth shut unless he wanted a seemingly endless lecture from one of the "elites" as they were called around the ship. It never scared him straight as they'd hoped it would, it just bored him to no end. Raditz, though, couldn't keep his mouth shut ever. 'Just like their fathers,' Nappa though solemnly to himself one day as he watched Vegeta quickly cover Raditz's mouth before he got them both in trouble.

One day, after coming back from a particularly rough assignment, Raditz turned to Nappa with a curious look in his eye. The taller Saiyan's tail bristled uneasily, though he continued walking as if he hadn't noticed. "Hey Nappa,are we space pirates?" the little one asked excitedly, practically vibrating in his spot. Nappa paused before laughing loud enough to startle Naeb, who had clung to Raditz's back as she slept. She glared up at him and pouted, turning her head away as she buried her face in Raditz's hair again.

"Yeah, I guess we are," was the only thing Nappa could think to respond with. Vegeta paused for a moment before grunting softly. He had never thought of it that way, but he supposed Raditz was right. 

"That is so awesome," Raditz murmured softly. Adventure awaiting at every turn, just as he had hoped! He was ecstatic about the answer for the rest of the day.

Nappa refused to let the three children come with him when he left for the debriefing process. He claimed that they needed their rest, but Vegeta knew there was more than just that. Still, though, he hadn't fought him on it. What waited for them beyond that door was something he didn't feel like dealing with yet. He was content to stay with Raditz and Naeb until Nappa returned.

When Nappa did return, Naeb was still asleep, as she always was after returning from an assignment. Raditz was just waking up, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "Oh hey, how'd it go?" he asked on a yawn. Nappa sighed and shook his head, pulling up a chair. "Not good. Not good at all. Because of our _unsatisfactory performance_ , as Zarbon so kindly put it, our shore leave has been cut by a week. None of you receive any pay yet, but mine has been docked 5% as a warning to not let it happen again. We'll do better next time, though. We were just a little off our game this time, that's all." Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and laid his head against the window, not even bothering to turn towards anyone as he spoke.

"They treat us as if they're any better than us. We did fine out there and they're acting as if we failed completely. No matter what we do, it'll never be good enough for them, don't you see that? They don't respect us, not even a little bit. All we have is each other. That's just the way it is. Especially with Zarbon in charge of the debriefing process. All he ever does is spend his time telling us how worthless we are when in all actuality we are probably the most efficient team on this ship. They're scared of us, Nappa. They're scared of how powerful we are, how powerful we can become, so they constantly try to keep us down. Well, it won't work. It's like my father said: there is one thing a Saiyan always keeps.. his pride."

Nappa listened silently to the young prince's speech. A wave of pride washed over him as he smirked and nodded. "You're right, Vegeta. They don't respect us at all, but you can never let that bring you down, any of you. We're all that's left of our race, it's up to us to kick ass and show them we're better than what they think we are or what they say. Tomorrow we resume training. Rest up now and eat well in the morning." He stood and crossed the room, lifting Naeb out of Raditz's bed to carry her across the hall to their room. "Goodnight you two. Don't stay up too late."


	3. Everyone Has Fears

Raditz was a horrible roommate. After the last 13 years of living with him, Vegeta had finally had enough. Aside from not being able to stay still for at least ten minutes, the older Saiyan had a tendency to snore extremely loudly, even sleep walk on rare occasions. And that was on a good night; on a bad night, he was known to carry on full conversations with whoever was in the room while still remaining dead asleep. Vegeta refused to stay even one more night. Grumbling across the hall, he pounded on the door, immediately demanding whoever opened it to switch with him. A soft laugh escaped Nappa as he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest.

“Aw, come on, he’s not that bad. I’ll switch with you, but it’s not much better here either. Naeb’s not the best sleeper ever.” Behind him, the girl rolled her eyes, launching a pillow at the back of his head. “Fuck you, Nappa.”

Vegeta caught the pillow after it bounced off Nappa’s head and tossed it back to Naeb. “I’m sure she can’t be as bad as him.” Naeb laid the pillow behind her head again, grumbling something about how Nappa needed to shut the fuck up and go to sleep. For 13 years old, she already had such a colorful vocabulary.

An hour later, Vegeta was finally settled in and was on the brink of falling asleep when a sudden scream caught him off guard, causing him to jump and scream as well. Naeb sat up in bed, breathing heavily as she looked frantically around the room. Vegeta glanced over at her in confusion before standing up and crossing over to her bed.

“What the hell was that? You were able to sleep through Nappa and I moving all of our stuff around but you scream at literally nothing?” he asked, laying the back of his hand on her forehead. “You don’t have a fever and nothing appears to be broken, so what’s wrong?”

The young girl whimpered softly and rubbed at her eyes, sighing quietly. “Can you go five minutes without yelling at someone? It was just a nightmare, don’t worry about it.”

Vegeta sighed quietly as well and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the door. “I have them sometimes too. Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes that helps.”

Naeb shook her head but laid her head against Vegeta’s back hesitantly. “No, I don’t even want to think about it. Maybe in the morning but for now I just want to go back to sleep."

He nodded and turned slightly, laying back against the headboard so Naeb could rest on him more carefully. "Go ahead. You'll be safe now." He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, finally letting himself drift off to sleep. Raditz walked around with a black eye for the next two days after he found them the next morning. 'Should have kept his big mouth shut,' Vegeta thought proudly.

A week into the room change, Nappa finally understood why Vegeta was so adamant about not rooming with Raditz anymore. While he looked like he hadn't slept a wink in four days, Raditz seemed clueless to the older Saiyan's fatigue and continued on as if nothing was wrong. Vegeta found it hilarious. He enjoyed reveling in the fact that he had been right. Naeb wasn't even that bad of a sleeper like Nappa claimed. An occasional nightmare every now and then, but that was nothing compared to Raditz. Gloating to Nappa never felt so good.


	4. Letting Down Your Guard

Death was a seemingly sweet release from the eternal prison found aboard Frieza’s ship. More often than not, it seemed as though death was the only way out. The thought of dying, however, both tempted and terrified the youngest Saiyan. Naeb often had nightmares of dying at Frieza’s hands, a fear that carried over into her adult life aboard the ship. After being taken into this metal Hell, Nappa and Raditz’s former personalities never seemed to falter, though their younger counterparts were quickly becoming hardened shells of who they once were. Vegeta had once been a curious child, eager to seek out all knowledge he could, to know all that he hadn’t before. After years and years of constant verbal and physical backlash, the prince learned to keep his curiosities to himself. He no longer asked Nappa about constellations they could see out their windows, why some stars were brighter than others. He stopped asking why anything happened and instead just let everything be as it was. 

Vegeta found himself growing more and more unguarded around Naeb as time wore on. Despite her hardened features she displayed around their other “comrades”, she had grown to be quite beautiful. She was almost the spitting image of her mother: her long dark hair falling in waves down her back, though still nowhere near as long as Raditz’s own, thick eyelashes delicately framing eyes almost as black as the void of space. Vegeta wasn’t the only one that had noticed; Raditz seemed to take a shine to her as well. His focus on assignments shifted from reckless slaughter to making sure Naeb stayed safe, which in turn frustrated her to no end.

“He’s a damn fool, that’s what he is,” she muttered under her breath, eliciting a soft laugh from Nappa and an uncommitted grunt from Vegeta. “I’m old enough to worry about my own self now, I suggest Raditz starts doing the same.”

“Poor boy is blinded by love, kid. He’ll get over it soon enough. He always does,” Nappa reassured, patting her shoulder as he stood up from the table. “Well, I’m off to bed. You two don’t cause too much trouble.”

After Nappa had left the room, a comfortable silence fell between the two youngest Saiyans. Soft breathing filled the space where conversation once was; it was nice to finally have a rare moment of peace, neither of them willing to disturb it. A slight rustling drew Naeb’s attention away from the window she’d been staring at to her prince who was now sitting next to her, rather than across where he had been just a moment before.

“You’re right,” he started, “Raditz is a damn fool. But not for loving you. He’s a damn fool for thinking he had a chance in the first place.”

Naeb laughed softly and nodded a bit, folding her arms over her chest. “Yes, I suppose so. And I take it you know more than you’re letting on to, but I can let it slide for now.” She turned back to the window again and leaned back to rest the back of her head against his chest. “He means well, I know. But in the life we live, there is no place for love or any sort of that stuff. The only emotion that has a place in this sort of lifestyle is fury. Or I guess that’s how some would look at it, but there’s really no place for any emotion. It’s a cruel fact, but there’s nothing we can do about it, no way to fight it. We bare it all in silence until they day comes when we’re free once again.”

Vegeta was silent for a long while before speaking again. “You’ve never known freedom. You were taken here at just a few days old. This life is all you know.”

“All the more reason to want freedom.”

Vegeta nodded and glanced down at Naeb before looking out the window as well. “Our planet was a lot like that last one we purged.”

“Really?”

“Well, more intelligent life, but other than that yes.”

“What was it like? Life on our planet?”

The prince was quiet for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. “I don’t remember a lot of things about it. I stayed close to my father most of the time and when I wasn’t with him, I was training with Raditz and Nappa. When the four of us were taken here, I was only five. Most of what I know now are things I learned from Nappa, so you’d have to ask him.”

Naeb nodded and tilted her head up to look at Vegeta once more. “Why do you Raditz is an idiot for thinking he had a shot in the first place?”

“We both know why.”

“Yes, but I want to hear you say it.”

He groaned in annoyance and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Because you’re mine.”


	5. Never Seem to Catch a Break

Stepping out of the ship, Vegeta almost had to shield his eyes at the sudden brightness of the mid-afternoon sun. They'd arrived a little earlier than planned, but that just meant there was more time to themselves. Frieza Planet 79 was the popular site for most soldiers to take their shore leave; the four Saiyans were no exception to this. The only issue Vegeta could come up with about their time there is how, since it was a popular destination, it was always crawling with Elites. Specifically Lord Frieza's two aides as well as the widely praised Ginyu Force. It never failed, before the end of every shore leave, one of the Saiyans managed to run into both of the aides and at least two Ginyu Force members. That always resulted in a new hole in the ground or in the side of a mountain, depending on who was firing.

After unloading the last box that had been packed onto the ship, Naeb wiped he forehead with the back of her hand before nodding over to the captain to confirm he was clear for take off. "Y'know, Raditz, most of these boxes are yours. You could have helped me at least a little," she commented, throwing a glare over her shoulder at the mane of hair standing behind her. Of course he wasn't paying attention. Typical Raditz. "Asshole," she muttered under her breath before turning to face his back, arms crossed over her chest. "Oh sure, I'll carry all of your stuff for you, don't worry about it. It's not like I have my own stuff to worry about, no you go ahead and find tonight's booty call while the rest of us actually do something productive."

Finally catching on to the annoyance held in her words, Raditz turned around and threw Naeb a look of complete and utter confusion. "Damn, you're starting to sound more and more like Vegeta each day," he commented teasingly, almost earning himself a kick in the teeth. Luckily Naeb was able to control herself and instead settled with a slap on the shoulder. Raditz chuckled softly and shook his head, brushing past her to grab some of his boxes. "I'll come down and get the rest, you worry about your stuff, alright?" He turned and started to walk to the apartment building where they'd be living for a while, slowing his pace a bit when he noticed Naeb starting to catch up with him.

"Did no one ever teach you to pack lightly?" she teased, stopping to push the button of the elevator. Raditz rolled his eyes, but smirked playfully as they waited for the doors to open. Any lighthearted mood the two held between them was instantly soured as the doors slid open and out walked not only half of the damn Ginyu Force, but Zarbon as well. Of all the bad luck held in the universe, of _course_ they had to be here, in this building, _right fucking now._ Pushing down the growl that tried to force its way out of her throat, Naeb refused to make eye contact with any of the four men stepping out of the elevator. Jeice must have noticed as he threw a muttered comment to Burter that had Naeb's tail bristling before she could stop it. She dropped her boxes and spun to face them, fists clenched tightly at her side. "I'm sorry, would you like to repeat that? I seem to have missed it the first time."

"Now, now, children, we can't have a quarrel in the lobby on your first day home, now can we?" Zarbon smirked, stepping between the two to break the stare down they had fallen into. "Jeice here was merely commenting on how you've been looking... run down lately. I'm sure this time off will do you good, seeing as you're already coiled like a little spring. Do us all a favor and relax a little before you blow yourself up." The teal man turned to walk away but stopped, glancing over his shoulder at the pair of Saiyans once more. "Oh and Naeb, do try to stay out of trouble dear. I'd hate to have to teach you basic manners all over again. Are we clear?"

"Crystal clear, sir," she gritted out. Once the group started retreating again, stifled giggles barely being suppressed, Raditz immediately turned to Naeb. She looked at him and shook her head, cutting off any question he might have started to ask. "Don't. It was nothing you need to be concerned about. And you don't need to concern Vegeta or Nappa with it either, got it?" The hesitant nod gave her the feeling that he would try again later, but that didn't bother he as she picked up her boxes and stepped into the elevator. The rest of the afternoon passed with no further incident, though Nappa picked up on the tension the instant the pair stepped through the door.

Raditz and Nappa decided not to stay in that night and somehow ended up in the red light district of the city they were in. Naeb hadn't emerged all day after returning from unloading with Raditz. Something had happened downstairs and Vegeta was determined to get to the bottom of it. He knocked softly on her door before entering the room without bothering to wait for an answer. She hadn't seemed to notice her presence, though, staring blankly out the window as she sat on the windowsill- a habit she'd picked up from none other than Vegeta, who often did this when something was weighing heavily on his mind. He took a seat next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, quickly recoiling at the way she jumped and tensed up under his touch."What happened downstairs?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," was her muttered response as she turned her attention back to the window. She silently begged him to just drop it and leave her be as Raditz had, but she knew that would never happen.

"Bullshit, something happened. Don't shut me out, Naeb, I'm not fucking Raditz, you can't do that to me." His offhanded comment cause something in her to snap and she turned sharply to glare at him, fighting back the urge to slap him.

"And what about you, huh? You shut everyone out all the time. You can't expect me to just tell you anything and everything and then not tell me anything ever. It doesn't work like that, Vegeta, so either you back off now before I say something to damage that damn pride of yours or you learn to start practicing what you preach."

The young prince was stunned to say the least; Naeb had never snapped at anyone like this before, let alone Vegeta. Although he was interested in what she thought she could say to hurt him, he decided it was best to not press the issue, nodding grimly before standing. "Alright. Obviously whatever happened was bad enough to ruin your mood so I'll leave you be. When you're ready to talk about it, I'll be in my room. Come find me once you've cooled off." In an uncharacteristic moment, he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to her forehead as tears gathered in her eyes, a silent apology for whatever he'd said to illicit a reaction like that. He turned to leave but was stopped by a gentle hand around his wrist.

"Don't go," she pleaded softly, standing to join him where he was. "I'm sorry I snapped like that. You were right, something did happen downstairs. It wasn't anything bad, but it brought back several memories I thought I'd repressed. Some that I'd rather not talk about right now. I can't promise that I'll be ready to talk about it soon, but when I am ready, you'll be the first I talk to about it."

Vegeta grinned weakly and nodded, drawing Naeb close to him as he closed his eyes for a moment. "That's all I ask of you." He laid his forehead against hers silently for a moment before opening his eyes again, one hand cupping her cheek softly. "Come with me. You haven't eaten since we got here, you must be starving."

Hours later when Nappa and Raditz returned, they found the two fast asleep on the couch, arms wound tightly around one another. Nappa laughed softly and shook his head, grabbing a blanket from the hall closet and draping it over them gently so as not to disturb them. "I don't think I've ever seen them more relaxed," Raditz commented teasingly, smirking a bit before retreating into his own room.


End file.
